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Background Brief Vietnam: Death of General Vo Nguyen Giap - 1 Carlyle A. Thayer October 5, 2013

[client name deleted} General Vo Nguyen Giap has passed away. We request your assessment of his career. ANSWER: General Vo Nguyen Giap is Vietnams Last Centurion. He dates to the era of Ho Chi Minh, Pham Van Dong and other stalwarts of the Vietnamese Revolution. General Giap was instrumental in sounding the death knell for colonialism throughout the world and expelling the French from Vietnam. Of course the masterpiece of his career was the victory of the Vietnam Peoples Army at Dien Bien Phu. Western military academies still study the tactics of this battle in their courses. GeneraL Giap must be credited with turning the Vietnam Peoples Army into a modern army in the years after partition in 1954. General Giap also deserves credit for marshaling Vietnams resources during the Air War period (1965-68) and in 1972, the so-called Dien Bien Phu battle in the air. General Giaps service to the nation did not end there. After unification he served for many years as Minister of National Defence and Deputy Prime Minister. The legacy of General Vo Nguyen Giap is one of Vietnams national treasures.

Suggested citation: Carlyle A. Thayer, Vietnam: Death of General Vo Nguyen Giap 1, Thayer Consultancy Background Brief, October 5, 2013. All background briefs are posted on Scribd.com (search for Thayer). To remove yourself from the mailing list type UNSUBSCRIBE in the Subject heading and hit the Reply key. Thayer Consultancy provides political analysis of current regional security issues and other research support to selected clients. Thayer Consultancy was officially registered as a small business in Australia in 2002.

Thayer Consultancy
ABN # 65 648 097 123

Background Brief Vietnam: Vo Nguyen Giap - 2 Carlyle A. Thayer October 6, 2013

[Client name deleted] We request an assessment of the death of General Vo Nguyen Giap and his importance in an historical context. Will the death of General Vo Nguyen Giap give the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) a bit of a crisis of legitimacy? In a previous Background Brief you wrote about how General Giap was such a key part of the victories that the ruling CPV see as providing a nationalist foundation for their rule what will they do now hes gone? You also wrote: "He's a mythic, heroic figure for Vietnam. Giap is second only to late founding father Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam's most revered figure, in the nation's affections. General Giap is Vietnams "last legitimate hero", whose victories the ruling communists see as providing a nationalist foundation for their rule. "They cannot rubbish General Giap," because he is part of the CPVs narrative".

ANSWER: General Giaps death will not directly affect the Vietnam Communist Partys (VCPs) legitimacy. The VCP will carefully manage how General Giaps legacy is presented to the public so it reinforces the historical legitimacy of the party itself. The party of course will paper over the controversial aspects of General Giaps career including political in-fighting. The present regime is facing severe challenges to its nationalist credentials because of how it is handling the South China Sea issue. General Giaps intervention over bauxite mining linked environmental concerns with national security. Because of his stature he was untouchable. With his passing, those who raise South China Sea issues and relations with China will not have the implicit cover General Giap provided. The party will continue to hold ceremonies to mark past historic victories and they will memorialize the authorized version of General Giaps legacy.

Suggested citation: Carlyle A. Thayer, Vietnam: Vo Nguyen Giap - 2, Thayer Consultancy Background Brief, October 6, 2013. All background briefs are posted on

2 Scribd.com (search for Thayer). To remove yourself from the mailing list type UNSUBSCRIBE in the Subject heading and hit the Reply key. Thayer Consultancy provides political analysis of current regional security issues and other research support to selected clients. Thayer Consultancy was officially registered as a small business in Australia in 2002.

Thayer Consultancy
ABN # 65 648 097 123

Background Brief Vietnam: Vo Nguyen Giap - 3 Carlyle A. Thayer October 6, 2013

[client name deleted] General Vo Nguyen Giap has passed away. We request your professional and personal appreciation of General Giap as a military leader. ANSWER: How to sum up the life of one of the most significant military generals this century? General Vo Nguyen Giap was a patriot, a nationalist, and a loyal member of the Vietnam Communist Party. He was single-minded in leading the military struggle to free Vietnam from foreign domination and national reunification. As Vietnams most senior general it is important to note that he was not formally trained in the military arts. He was a historian who applied the lessons of history to the reality of the battlefield. General Giap was one of the foremost practitioners of peoples war. He used military struggle and political struggle side by side. He understood the necessity for popular support. He was highly competent in organising all the resources at his disposal, particularly logistics, to win the battle of Dien Bien Phu. The victory of Dien Bien Phu signaled the defeat of the French in Vietnam, but it was also the death knell for colonialism worldwide General Vo Nguyen Giap served as minister of national defence for thirty-six years retiring in February 1980. He served on the partys Politburo until July 1991, a month before his eightieth birthday. In summary, General Vo Nguyen Giap was a master tactician, a master of logistics, and a master strategist. He exemplified the Vietnamese ethos of the weak defeating the strong by using rudimentary weapons to defeat modern weapons.

Suggested citation: Carlyle A. Thayer, Vietnam: Vo Nguyen Giap - 3, Thayer Consultancy Background Brief, October 6, 2013. All background briefs are posted on Scribd.com (search for Thayer). To remove yourself from the mailing list type UNSUBSCRIBE in the Subject heading and hit the Reply key. Thayer Consultancy provides political analysis of current regional security issues and other research support to selected clients. Thayer Consultancy was officially registered as a small business in Australia in 2002.

Thayer Consultancy
ABN # 65 648 097 123

Background Brief Vietnam: Vo Nguyen Giap - 4 Carlyle A. Thayer October 8, 2013

[client name deleted] General Vo Nguyen Giap has died. We request your assessment of his career as a military leader and senior member of the Vietnam Communist Party. We also request a short bibliography of biographies on his life and publications, ANSWER: General Vo Nguyen Giap is a symbol of the Vietnamese nation. He was not formally trained in military art but was self-taught. Who could imagine when in 1944 he organized a 34 man platoon that in a decade he would defeat the French, one of the most modern military forces in the world. General Giap learned through battlefield experience how to conduct peoples war. This entailed organizing the people to assist in logistics to support the Peoples Army of Vietnam. General Giap combined elements of Vietnamese military tradition, Maos theory of peoples war with the writings of Napoleon and Clausewitz. He set up the battle of Dien Bien Phy by driving into Laos and then suddenly turning back and surrounding the French fortification at Dien Bien Phu. He accomplished a logistics miracle by bringing in artillery and ammunition piece by piece. The victory at Dien Bien Phu not only signaled the end of French rule in Indochina but colonialism worldwide. General Giap really had three phases in his career. The first was a commander of the Peoples Army of Vietnam and Minister of National Defence. After 1954 he modernized the Peoples Army of Vietnam. In the second phase General Giap then relinquished his role as commander in chief and remained as Minister of National Defence. In the third phase General Giap served as Deputy Prime Minister with various responsibilities until his full retirement. In summary, he was loyal to the party, a patriot and a nationalist and will be best remembered for his role as military strategist. Short Bibliography. Biographies Boudarel, Georges. 1977. Giap! Paris: Editions Atlas. Colvin, John 1996. Giap: Volcano Under Snow. New York: Soho Press Inc. Currey, Cecil B. 1997. Victory at Any Cost: The Genius of Viet Nams Gen. Vo Nguyen Giap. London: Brasseys Inc.

2 Jenkins, Brian. 1972. Giap and the Seventh Son. Santa Monica: The RAND Corporation. Le Quang, Gerard. 1973. Giap: ou la guerre du people. Paris: Denoel. Macdonald, Peter. 1993, Giap: The Victor in Vietnam. London: Fourth Estate. ONeill, Robert J. 1969. General Giap: Politician and Strategist. Melbourne: Cassell Australia and New York: Praeger. ONeill, Robert J. 1969. The Strategy of General Giap Since 1964. Canberra Papers on Strategy and Defence No. 6. Canberra: Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, The Australian National University. Writings Stetler, Russell. 1970. The Military Art of Peoples War: Selected Writings of General Vo Nguyen Giap. London: Monthly Review Press. Vo Nguyen Giap. 1968. Big Victory, Great Task. New York: Praeger. Vo Nguyen Giap. 1970. Banner of People's War: The Party's Military Line. Preface by Jean Lacouture ; introduction by Georges Boudarel. London: Pall Mall.

Suggested citation: Carlyle A. Thayer, Vietnam: Vo Nguyen Giap - 4, Thayer Consultancy Background Brief, October 8, 2013. All background briefs are posted on Scribd.com (search for Thayer). To remove yourself from the mailing list type UNSUBSCRIBE in the Subject heading and hit the Reply key. Thayer Consultancy provides political analysis of current regional security issues and other research support to selected clients. Thayer Consultancy was officially registered as a small business in Australia in 2002.

Thayer Consultancy
ABN # 65 648 097 123

Background Brief Vietnam: Vo Nguyen Giap - 5 Carlyle A. Thayer October 9, 2013

[client name deleted] We request your assessment of Genera Vo Nguyen Giap. What was his impact on Vietnam? What were his major accomplishments? What impact did he have on the world? ANSWER: Vo Nguyen Giap: Vietnams Last Centurion* General Vo Nguyen Giaps career spans sixty-four years of active service to the Vietnam Communist Party, the Peoples Army of Vietnam and the Vietnamese nation. General Giaps career may be divided into five phases. In the first phase, from 19271944, he was a student activist, progressive journalist, a political activist, a political prisoner, teacher and a postgraduate student. The second phase of his career, from 1944-73, was his most important. General Giap held multiple appointments as commander in chief of the Peoples Army of Vietnam, Minister of National Defence, and member of the Politburo. In this second phase General Giap transformed a platoon of 34 men into a peoples army that in the course of ten years was able to defeat the French on the battle field. General Giap, who was never formally trained in the military arts, mastered the military writings of Mao along with those of Napoleon and Clausewitz. He integrated these teaching with Vietnamese military tradition. General Giap became a master strategist whose aim was to drive the French out of Vietnam. He combined local war with regional warfare. He built up an impressive capacity for military logistics. He brought all these skills together at the battle of Dien Bien Phu. He first created a diversion by driving into Laos and then quickly launching a strike at Dien Bien Phu. He disregarded advice from his Chinese advisors and employed siege tactics to humble the French. The battle of Dien Bien Phu not only marked the end of French colonialism in Indochina but global colonialism. After partition in 1954 General Giap modernized the Peoples Army of Vietnam and saw to the creation of an embryonic navy and air defence-air force. General Giap took main responsibility for the war in the south roughly during the decade 1963-73,

2 At the end of phase two, aged 79, General Giap relinquished operational control of the Peoples Army of Vietnam. During phase three, from 1974-80, General Giap held the posts of member of the Politburo, Minister of National Defence and Vice Premier. During phase four, from 1981-1991, General Giap gradually gave up his many responsibilities. In 1980 he retired as Minister of National Defence and assumed ministerial-level responsibilities for science and technology; demography and family planning; and then education. In 1991 at age 80 he stepped down as Deputy Premier and entered the fifth phase of his career in full time retirement. During this period he occasionally made public comments on important anniversaries and tendered his advice to the government and party on important issues. Probably his most notable intervention came in 2009 when he offered his views on bauxite mining and its impact on the environment and national security. General Giap will be forever remembered for developing the Peoples Army of Vietnam and masterminding the defeat of two major foreign powers, France and the United States. He was single minded in his pursuit of Vietnamese independence and national reunification. He was a loyal member of the party who worked closely with Ho Chi Minh and Pham Van Dong. General Giap was also a patriot, nationalist and military strategist extraordinaire. He mastered the art of peoples war by combining political with military struggle in a protracted war that wore down his opponents. General Giaps career has captured the imagination of both the younger and older generations in Vietnam. This is witnessed by the spontaneous outpouring of grief by citizens of all ages who flocked to his home to light candles and incense. General Giap embodied the Vietnamese character of using intellect to devise tactics and strategies so rudimentary weapons could overcome modern weapons and by which the seemingly weak could defeat the strong.
*Commander of a century (100 men) in the Roman Army but in this context a professional soldier/commander who has reached 100 years of age.

Suggested citation: Carlyle A. Thayer, Vietnam: Vo Nguyen Giap - 5, Thayer Consultancy Background Brief, October 9, 2013. All background briefs are posted on Scribd.com (search for Thayer). To remove yourself from the mailing list type UNSUBSCRIBE in the Subject heading and hit the Reply key. Thayer Consultancy provides political analysis of current regional security issues and other research support to selected clients. Thayer Consultancy was officially registered as a small business in Australia in 2002.